Finmeccanica names interim CEO

The board of Italian defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica has named Chief Operating Officer Alessandro Pansa as interim Chief Executive following the arrest of Giuseppe Orsi on suspicion of corruption.

The board had decided in an emergency meeting yesterday that Pansa would take over running the company until the next shareholders’ meeting on April 14.

Orsi, the company’s chair and CEO, was arrested on Tuesday for the alleged payment of bribe to secure a $755-million contract to sell 12 helicopters to India. Orsi, who has been jailed, denies wrongdoing. The chief of Finmeccanica’s unit AgustaWestland has been placed under house arrest.

Premier Mario Monti said on state television that he expects the Government to propose removing Orsi from his post at the shareholders’ meeting.

Shares of Finmeccanica, which is 30 per cent state-owned, dropped 4 per cent yesterday.

XThese are paid-for links provided by Outbrain, and may or may not be relevant to the other content on this page. To find out more information about driving traffic to your content or to place this widget on your site, visit outbrain.com. You can read Outbrain's privacy and cookie policy here.